Ina Samdal
About
My focus areas are building tectonics and bio-based materials, and a central question in my work is how sensory and aesthetic values can contribute to a sustainable building culture. I am an optimistic idealist who hopes to be one of those who dares to stand up for change.
My perspective within architecture is rooted in my childhood, where I grew up on a farm. Here, I learned to see the value in what already exists, to use my hands, and to have respect for the landscape that sustains us. My first craft skills did not come from books but from barn walls, manure trenches, and rough tools used for generations. This way of thinking – that materials have a history, that they can be repaired, maintained, and reconfigured – I have carried into architecture. Later, I graduated with a master's degree in architecture from NTNU. Together with Kristian Møystad Bjørnland, I developed a building system based on local resources such as clay, wood, and stone, which we used to design buildings. For this work, our project Grendeliv was nominated for two international awards for young architects.
I established my own practice with Ur Arkitekter alongside two fellow students, graduated, and began teaching around the same time, in early 2017. In 2019, I became a farmer at Endal Gård, and I increasingly realise that I have two different specialisations that benefit from each other. My professional background can be understood as three mutually reinforcing pillars: academia, practice, and agriculture. In academia, I teach and research within an innovative professional environment. In architectural practice, I test ideas through real projects. As a farmer, I relate to nature and its ecological systems in concrete, everyday terms. This combination gives me both joy in work and professional drive, while also providing practical knowledge that I actively incorporate into my research.
This interdisciplinary foundation is particularly evident in my ongoing practice-based PhD, where I conduct design-research on regenerative building materials. Here, I investigate how wool can be reformulated as an architectural material. In connection with this project, I have participated in research conferences and seminars and have been invited into professional networks for textile craftsmanship and Norwegian wool. Additionally, I am involved in teaching, both in planning and delivering courses, excursions, and full-scale building projects. I lecture and supervise at undergraduate, master's, and diploma project levels.
With lessons from agriculture, my goal is to develop architecture that not only reduces negative impacts but also contributes to rebuilding – and ideally improving – the ecosystems that buildings are part of. I am committed to ensuring that buildings and nature can exist in a reciprocal, caring relationship. What from the past can inform future architecture? In my work, I seek solutions that build on what already exists, with a particular focus on sustainable material use and buildings that can last long because they are possible to care for, modify, and preserve. I want to bring this perspective into teaching, through themes and attitudes that enable students to face the future with curiosity, responsibility, and hope.
Research
I am currently working with a PhD that researches the potential of sheep wool as an architectural material. My research is done through practice-led methods, and I would not have considered a PhD any other way. The doctoral thesis grows out of a simple starting point: Norwegian sheep wool, and what might happen if we treated it not as waste, but as a material for regenerative architecture.
It speaks to three closely linked problems in how we build today. Buildings are often short-lived and rely on resources that damage the ecosystems they come from. Architectural work tends to prize what can be measured, while neglecting what it feels like to live with and within buildings—their sensory and existential qualities. And in both practice and research, most attention to biobased materials has gone to wood, leaving other locally available fibres, like wool, on the margins.
The study begins from the reality on the ground: Norwegian wool is abundant, but much of it—especially the coarse, dark, or coloured fibres—is treated as little more than an agricultural by-product. Drawing on cultural history, material science, and existing uses of wool, the research traces what this material can do for architecture. It maps wool’s technical performance, environmental profile, and sensory qualities, and looks at how it is currently used in buildings, mostly hidden away as insulation or in loose interior elements. Life-cycle assessments, soil and grazing studies, and research into wool’s effects on health and indoor climate place the material within current debates on sustainable and regenerative design, while also acknowledging the contested aspects of its environmental impact.
Methodologically, the thesis develops a material-centred, practice-based approach called Material Driven Architecture. This framework weaves together three strands of design research—Research for Design (RfD), Research through Design (RtD), and Research about (or into) Design (RaD)—within a tectonic and regenerative view of architecture. It combines careful reading and conversations with wool experts (RfD); hands-on material tinkering, drawing, model-making, and full-scale Design–Build projects (RtD); and ethnographically informed studies of how humans and other species encounter wool in situ (RaD). Sensory ethnography, reflexive field notes, and participatory design with students, practitioners, and craftspeople are used to access the tacit, embodied experience of wool in architectural settings.
Across these investigations, the thesis shows how wool’s tectonic presence and multisensory character—its feel, sound-absorbing qualities, smell, responses to heat and moisture, and visual appearance—can create experiences of protection, warmth, curiosity, and care. At the same time, the work is honest about the challenges: sourcing and processing wool, questions of durability and maintenance, pests, and regulatory barriers, particularly when working with coarse and vegetable-contaminated fibres. By analysing how people actually use and move through the built demonstrators, the research argues that lived, material experiences are crucial for accepting and meaningfully integrating regenerative materials. These experiences should sit alongside technical and economic performance when we choose what to build with.
The thesis offers three main contributions. First, it develops a richer, situated understanding of Norwegian sheep wool as an architectural material. Second, it proposes the Material Driven Architecture framework, adapting methods from material experience research to the scale and contextual complexity of buildings. Third, it provides empirical evidence that full-scale, place-specific demonstrators can act as catalysts for knowledge sharing, education, and further quantitative research on bio-based materials. More broadly, the work calls for a shift in how we think about architecture. Rather than treating it mainly as a formal and technical enterprise, it argues for an embodied, place-based practice in which materials like wool help to mediate relationships between buildings, people, and ecosystems. In doing so, it points towards a move from merely less harmful construction towards genuinely regenerative building cultures.
Reformulating Wool - A Practice-based Study Investigating Wool as a Material for Regenerative Architecture
Wood in Valdres – Sustainability as a function of place and business development
Publications
Material Driven Architecture Framework
Wool Tales
Dører og porter på Møllenberg
ULL
2024
-
Baardsgaard, Anne Kristine;
Selvik, Amalie Marie;
Faurby, Carl Martin Rosenkilde;
Lundebrekke, Edith;
Viken, Annee Grøtte;
Espelien, Ingvild.
(2024)
ULL.
Museum exhibition
2023
-
Eide, Trond;
Samdal, Ina.
(2023)
Dører og porter på Møllenberg.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, faculty of Architecture and Design, department of Architecture and Technology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, faculty of Architecture and Design, department of Architecture and Technology
Non-fiction book
2022
-
Samdal, Ina;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Schmidt, August;
Espelien, Ingvild Svorkmo.
(2022)
Wool and Metal Workshop: building a sheltering bench.
Architecture
2021
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Bye, Marie Sjue;
Jundt, Anna.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: outdoor toilet.
Architecture
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Jalbert, Lucas;
Lacasa, Matías Mas.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: outdoor kitchen.
Architecture
-
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Samdal, Ina;
Lacasa, Matías Mas;
Jalbert, Lucas;
Hassan, Rahma;
Teichgroeb, Kaja Linnea.
(2021)
Pavillion for Credo Food Culture Centre.
Architecture
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Ongstad, Ragnhild;
Petry, Jannik.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: off-grid cabin.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Schmidt, August;
Berntsen, Per;
Hanssen, Hanna Landfald.
(2021)
Rammed Earth Workshop: building an outdoor kitchen bench.
Architecture
2020
-
Johnsen, Eileen Garmann;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Samdal, Ina.
(2020)
Wool Introduction Workshop.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Compendium
2018
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Samdal, Ina;
Waagaard, Marius.
(2018)
Pilotprosjekt 1: Gjerdingvegen 13.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Waagaard, Marius;
Hakonsen, Finn.
(2018)
Pilotprosjekt 2: Gjerdingvegen 8.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Samdal, Ina.
(2018)
Tre i Valdres 2018 - Bærekraft som funksjon av steds- og næringsutvikling. Landsbyen Hensåsen, Vang i Valdres.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Report
2017
-
Schmidt, August;
Samdal, Ina;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Allémann, Julie;
Baía, Ana;
Escorihuela, Roger.
(2017)
Eldmølla.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Grendeliv - en metode for rural utvikling gjennom bruk av lokale ressurser.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Grendeliv - utstilling på Vang folkebibliotek.
Museum exhibition
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Rørosseminaret 2017: Local and Natural Building Materials from Valdres, Norway.
Museum exhibition
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Waagaard, Marius.
(2017)
Grendeliv.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Schmidt, August;
Samdal, Ina;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav.
(2017)
Learning in 1:1 scale - Eldmølla - building a sauna in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
2016
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Waagaard, Marius;
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Bourret, Zoé.
(2016)
Leikegøta.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina.
(2016)
Building in 1:1 scale - Leikegøta - a meeting place in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
2015
-
Næss, Kristin Solhaug;
Samdal, Ina;
Lura, Egil Jarell;
Holmestrand, Jan Fredrik.
(2015)
Revitalisering av Kjøpmannsgata 27.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina;
Aamot, Inger Kristin;
Bernard, Edouard.
(2015)
Public Sauna in Vang, Norway.
Architecture
-
Næss, Kristin Solhaug;
Samdal, Ina;
Lura, Egil Jarell;
Holmestrand, Jan Fredrik.
(2015)
Arkitekturdagen 2015 'Hverdagsbyen': Revitalisering av tomme bryggehus i Trondheim.
Museum exhibition
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina.
(2015)
Learning in 1:1 scale - Badstu - building a sauna in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
Books
-
Eide, Trond;
Samdal, Ina.
(2023)
Dører og porter på Møllenberg.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, faculty of Architecture and Design, department of Architecture and Technology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, faculty of Architecture and Design, department of Architecture and Technology
Non-fiction book
-
Schmidt, August;
Samdal, Ina;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav.
(2017)
Learning in 1:1 scale - Eldmølla - building a sauna in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina.
(2016)
Building in 1:1 scale - Leikegøta - a meeting place in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina.
(2015)
Learning in 1:1 scale - Badstu - building a sauna in Vang.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Non-fiction book
Report
-
Johnsen, Eileen Garmann;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Samdal, Ina.
(2020)
Wool Introduction Workshop.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Compendium
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Samdal, Ina.
(2018)
Tre i Valdres 2018 - Bærekraft som funksjon av steds- og næringsutvikling. Landsbyen Hensåsen, Vang i Valdres.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Report
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Waagaard, Marius.
(2017)
Grendeliv.
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
UTSTILLING
-
Baardsgaard, Anne Kristine;
Selvik, Amalie Marie;
Faurby, Carl Martin Rosenkilde;
Lundebrekke, Edith;
Viken, Annee Grøtte;
Espelien, Ingvild.
(2024)
ULL.
Museum exhibition
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Grendeliv - utstilling på Vang folkebibliotek.
Museum exhibition
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Rørosseminaret 2017: Local and Natural Building Materials from Valdres, Norway.
Museum exhibition
-
Næss, Kristin Solhaug;
Samdal, Ina;
Lura, Egil Jarell;
Holmestrand, Jan Fredrik.
(2015)
Arkitekturdagen 2015 'Hverdagsbyen': Revitalisering av tomme bryggehus i Trondheim.
Museum exhibition
Product
-
Samdal, Ina;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Schmidt, August;
Espelien, Ingvild Svorkmo.
(2022)
Wool and Metal Workshop: building a sheltering bench.
Architecture
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Bye, Marie Sjue;
Jundt, Anna.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: outdoor toilet.
Architecture
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Jalbert, Lucas;
Lacasa, Matías Mas.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: outdoor kitchen.
Architecture
-
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Samdal, Ina;
Lacasa, Matías Mas;
Jalbert, Lucas;
Hassan, Rahma;
Teichgroeb, Kaja Linnea.
(2021)
Pavillion for Credo Food Culture Centre.
Architecture
-
Rintala, Sami Juhani;
Berntsen, Per Bue;
Aalto, Pasi;
Samdal, Ina;
Ongstad, Ragnhild;
Petry, Jannik.
(2021)
Beiarn River Camp: off-grid cabin.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Schmidt, August;
Berntsen, Per;
Hanssen, Hanna Landfald.
(2021)
Rammed Earth Workshop: building an outdoor kitchen bench.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Samdal, Ina;
Waagaard, Marius.
(2018)
Pilotprosjekt 1: Gjerdingvegen 13.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Waagaard, Marius;
Hakonsen, Finn.
(2018)
Pilotprosjekt 2: Gjerdingvegen 8.
Architecture
-
Schmidt, August;
Samdal, Ina;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Allémann, Julie;
Baía, Ana;
Escorihuela, Roger.
(2017)
Eldmølla.
Architecture
-
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad.
(2017)
Grendeliv - en metode for rural utvikling gjennom bruk av lokale ressurser.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Waagaard, Marius;
Samdal, Ina;
Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad;
Bourret, Zoé.
(2016)
Leikegøta.
Architecture
-
Næss, Kristin Solhaug;
Samdal, Ina;
Lura, Egil Jarell;
Holmestrand, Jan Fredrik.
(2015)
Revitalisering av Kjøpmannsgata 27.
Architecture
-
Hakonsen, Finn;
Waagaard, Marius;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Samdal, Ina;
Aamot, Inger Kristin;
Bernard, Edouard.
(2015)
Public Sauna in Vang, Norway.
Architecture
Teaching
Ina have been teaching since 2016, and contribute to both undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as supervise diploma projects.
She mainly teach within the following topics: concept development, building tectonics, transformation, building conservation, DesignBuild projects, sustainable material use and general architectural studio work.
Courses she have participated in:
- AAR4415 - Architecture 2 – Tectonics (undergraduate)
- AAR4436 - Architecture 4 – Transformation (undergraduate)
- AAR4619 – 3 Houses (graduate)
- AAR4528 - Design in Context (graduate)
- AAR4611 - Making is Thinking (graduate)
- AAR4623 - Topology and Tectonic (graduate)
Outreach
2025
-
LectureBjørnland, Kristian Møystad; Johansson, Michelle Lilleby; Samdal, Ina. (2025) Nye Stemmer: Ur Arkitekter. Programlansering våren 2025 + Nye stemmer , Arkitektenes Hus, Josefines gate 34, Oslo 23.01.2025 - 23.01.2025
2023
-
Academic lectureSamdal, Ina. (2023) Wool Tales. CA²RE - Conference for Artistic and Architectural Research , Aarhus 23.03.2023 - 25.03.2023
2022
-
LectureSamdal, Ina. (2022) Local Wool in Art and Architecture in Central Norway. Use to conserve – the utilization of local wool from traditional sheep breeds in Europe , Klæbu 19.10.2022 - 23.10.2022
2021
-
Interview
-
Academic lectureSamdal, Ina. (2021) Material Driven Architecture. CA²RE - Conference for Artistic and Architectural Research , Ljubljana 24.09.2021 - 28.09.2021
2019
-
InterviewSamdal, Ina. (2019) Arkitektperlen Vang, Valdres. Aftenposten Hyttemagasinet Aftenposten Hyttemagasinet [Journal] 15.11.2019
2018
-
InterviewSchmidt, August; Gilberg, Arnstein Olav; Samdal, Ina. (2018) Arkitektutdanning - Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet - Eldmølla. Arkitektur N Arkitektur N [Journal]
2017
-
InterviewSchmidt, August; Samdal, Ina; Gilberg, Arnstein Olav. (2017) Eldmølla badstue - studentene prosjekterer og bygger. Arkitektur N Arkitektur N [Journal]
-
InterviewSchmidt, August; Samdal, Ina; Gilberg, Arnstein Olav. (2017) Skall i mur og betong for arkitektstudenter ved NTNU. Byggeindustrien Byggeindustrien [Internet] 27.11.2017
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InterviewSchmidt, August; Samdal, Ina; Gilberg, Arnstein Olav. (2017) Mikroarchitektur trifft Natur pur: Sauna in Norwegen. detail.de detail.de [Internet] 01.12.2017
-
InterviewWaagaard, Marius; Samdal, Ina. (2017) Studerer treindustri på Begna. Avisa Valdres Avisa Valdres [Journal] 18.02.2017
-
InterviewSamdal, Ina; Bjørnland, Kristian Møystad. (2017) Masteroppgave fra NTNU med Åsvang i fokus. vangivaldres.no vangivaldres.no [Internet] 17.01.2017
2015
-
InterviewSamdal, Ina; Næss, Kristin Solhaug. (2015) Reportasje om Bryggerekka Vintermarked. Adresseavisen Adresseavisen [Internet] 06.12.2015